‘Real talent’: Why McPeek relies on exercise rider Danny Ramsey

Saratoga Springs, N.Y.

When Kentucky Derby winner Mystik Dan worked five furlongs in 1:01.59 last Saturday at Saratoga, Danny Ramsey was aboard. When Kentucky Oaks winner Thorpedo Anna drilled the same distance in 1:02.09 the same morning, trainer Ken McPeek entrusted the same rider to execute the move exactly the way he wanted it done.

So who is Ramsey? Despite his relative anonymity, someone would have to look long and hard to find anyone as impressive as he is in the sport.

Ramsey is 74 with no sign of losing either his reflexes or his mental acuity. He is 5-3 and has maintained a weight of 122 pounds for decades. He eschews fried foods and soda. He does not drink or smoke. He requires only four hours of sleep. When he is not at the track or spending time with his wife, Eleanor, he preaches the gospel as a Pentecostal minister.

Few can match his ability to get along with all types of horses.

“He just has a good way of getting a horse happy underneath him,” McPeek said. “It’s a real talent. He’s a great rider.”

Ramsey played an integral role when Golden Ticket dead-heated with Alpha to win the 2012 Travers, when Eskimo Kisses showed the way in the 2018 Alabama and when Swiss Skydiver took it to the boys to capture the 2020 Preakness, among other Grade 1 triumphs for McPeek’s high-caliber operation.

With Mystik Dan on course for the Belmont Stakes on Saturday and Thorpedo Anna looming as the filly to beat in Friday’s Acorn (G1), Ramsey is approaching the weekend with great optimism.

He said of Mystik Dan, who followed the Derby with a runner-up effort in the Preakness, “He’s very, very happy. He loves racing. He loves running. If he wasn’t eating good and training good, (McPeek) wouldn’t run him.”

Ramsey was particularly upbeat about Thorpedo Anna in comparing the two horses who allowed McPeek to become the first trainer to complete the Oaks-Derby sweep since 1952. “She’s feeling better than him.”

Ramsey said Thorpedo Anna has a very different makeup from Swiss Skydiver. “Swiss Skydiver was more laid back,” he said. “Thorpedo Anna, when she says, ‘Let’s go,’ she means ‘Let’s go.’ Swiss Skydiver, she would say, ‘Whenever you are ready for me to go, I’ll go.’ “

Ramsey hopes for rain because both horses would relish a sloppy track. “I’m praying for rain,” he said. “Yes, I am.” He described Thorpedo Anna as “a freak on a wet track.” Friday’s forecast calls for scattered thunderstorms.

He said the filly has maintained her weight but he would like to see her add at least another 100 pounds. He predicted that she can beat the boys somewhere down the line and will win the Breeders’ Cup Distaff.

All of that is typical of Ramsey.

“Danny is one of the most positive people I’ve been around,” McPeek said. “I gravitate to that. I like having people like that around.”

The obvious question is how much longer Ramsey can continue. Although his passion for the game remains as strong as ever, he cannot retire soon enough to suit his devoted wife, Eleanor.

“I told my wife, ‘If we win the Triple Crown, I’ll think about retiring,’ ” he said. “We didn’t win the Triple Crown, so I’m not thinking about it.”

McPeek admitted there are times he worries about Ramsey, who has become a good friend. But he also said, “Physically, he’s probably more like somebody 40 or 50.”

No matter when Ramsey is given a leg up for the final time, McPeek is eager to keep him around. They have worked together for the last 15 years.

“I have told him, ‘When the day comes that you don’t want to do it any more, I will buy you a pony and you can tell all of the other exercise riders what they are doing wrong,’ ” the trainer said.

Meanwhile, Ramsey rides on.